Back when Brian and Landy still had the "Brains and Genius" office on West Pico in LA, the wall of the big downstairs room/office was covered with celebrity shots-- photos of Brian (and/or Dr. Landy) with various famous people..... and the BIGGEST picture on that entire wall, almost poster-sized, was a nice photo of Brian and Harry together in the late 1980s. I think it was taken at the release party for Van Dyke's "Tokyo Rose" album.
I always wished that Brian and Harry had done an album together.... they could've called it "Willy-Nilly."
Alan
This anecdote makes me happy.
I think if Harry had come to prominence a year or so earlier, Brian would have had his 'Rubber Soul moment' with Pandemonium Shadow Show. As it is, BW doesn't seem to say much about him, but The Point!/Mt. Vernon & Fairway comparison is a very astute one and makes a hell of a lot of sense. The instrumental textures of both records are very similar, which might say more about Harry than BW in some respects - the way Harry stacks and layers harmonies on something like Nilsson Sings Newman shows he HAD to be aware of Brian's work, so say nothing of the dense keyboards/Wrecking Crew arrangements. But the two passed each other by...
Ah, Harry.
Author
